It’s now a month since New
Zealanders ceased to be de facto Australians, free to attain
the status of “permanent residents” simply by setting foot
across the Tasman and doing time. In his debut Scoop column
Jimmy Solen rings the changes.

In this issue… Some reflections
on New Zealand tourism (with all the benefit of distance),
climate change (political rather than meteorological) and
proportional representation with style – the French
way…

Marriage is now no longer
just a union between one man and one woman – at least in the
Netherlands anyway. Two do not necessarily become one in a
country where marriage is a man-made civil right for some
people instead of a God–ordained sacrament. Other
...

Alliance
MP Phillida Bunkle today finds out whether she will regain
her ministerial portfolios, after an inconclusive report by
the Registrar of Electors into the validity of her enrolment
in Wellington Central left it to The Prime Minister and her
deputy ...

While stock market woes have
not been making headlines this morning in New Zealand -
perhaps because they have become all too typical - the red
ink has been flowing freely again in New York overnight at
the beginning of the trading week. At the close ...

1. Rt Hon JENNY SHIPLEY to
the Prime Minister: What reasons does she have for not
supporting the call by two former Secretaries of Defence and
four former chiefs of the defence forces to publish drafts
of the Government's defence reviews so they ...

Ella
Henry's appointment to the position of Human Rights
Commissioner leaves Libertarianz spokesman Andrew Bates
bemused. "How can the government expect anyone to take them
and their Commissariat seriously when they appoint an
opponent of rights to ...

According to the NOAA
supercomputer New Zealand will not be the only part of the
world celebrating Easter in the rain this year. The above
picture from the shows a large rain event – extending from
Canada to Florida - centered approximately over ...

A few months ago, the
burghers and businesses of Onehunga were asked, by way of a
postal referendum, whether the local water should be
fluoridated. Onehunga has its own prized spring water. It is
the only suburb of Auckland to not have its water
...

Scoop Sharp Stories is
going to ask you three questions. And you HAVE to answer
them instantly. You can't take your time; you have to answer
IMMEDIATELY... ok? Let's find out just how clever you really
are... ready?

1. Dr MURIEL NEWMAN to the
Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: Has the
Historic Places Trust had its lawyers write to an
ex-employee, threatening legal action if she breached
confidentiality; if so, how does she reconcile this with her
...

Representatives of Auckland’s Iwi
which will include Dover Samuels, Grant Hawke, Mike Smith,
Graeme Theodore, Hare Tukariri and other Tangata Whenua
representatives, are available to talk to the media at 11am
Friday 6th of April at Dover Samuels electoral ...

In response to the announcement
today by TVNZ to launch a digital broadcast service later
this year, SKY's Director of Communications, Tony O'Brien
said, "We can but reiterate our long standing offer to carry
the State owned broadcaster's free-to-air ...

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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For the past 100 years, the West has sold out the Kurds over and over again. So much so that it came as a surprise yesterday when US National Security advisor John Bolton appeared to walk back the latest act of betrayal... More>>

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2018 has been quite a year for Scoop. We are so thrilled to have successfully met the funding target for the first stage of the ‘Scoop 3.0’ plan raising $36,000. This means we can now proceed with the planning phase for the delivery of this bold vision for a community-owned, participatory, independent newsroom... More>>